


This is Nice

by bunnymoose



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Non-canon Der Katzenprinz, POV Caduceus Clay, POV Caleb Widogast, POV Jester Lavorre, little bit of well deserved affection, midnight shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27443215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnymoose/pseuds/bunnymoose
Summary: When sleep is difficult to come by, magical things happen at the midnight hour.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 14
Kudos: 108





	This is Nice

**Author's Note:**

> This was written after episode 114, but finished post episode 115 (likely my favorite session to date), and some of my guesses on session events were close but not exact enough to be pure spoilers. Still, if you would rather not risk it that's cool. Please come back to read it another time. =) 
> 
> Enjoy!

Firelight danced across the many sheets of paper scattered about the floor, their words blurring and shifting in the flickering flames. Caleb rubbed his tired eyes with ink-stained fingers. Beside him Beau stifled a yawn. He didn’t blame her.

It had been only half a day’s journey into the frozen wilderness of Eiselcross, slowed by not one but two wolf encounters and a hidden ice shelf, when Dagon advised them to hunker down against a cliffside to avoid an oncoming storm. Luckily they found a crevice in the rock just narrow enough to accommodate an entrance to the Tower, obscured from outside view. After settling Dagon into the guest bedroom--“Well damn, don’t you all travel in style.”--Caleb and Beau bent to the grindstone, combing again through the research that they and Yasha gleaned from the Archives and grafting in the information extracted from the lifeless lips of Vess DeRogna. 

A dull pop made Caleb glance up as Beau tacked another page to the wall, another point among the complicated web of truths and assumptions. Unfortunately, there were now even more questions without answers: the somnovum, the ritual Vess failed to perform on Lucien and its purpose, etcetera. Caleb scanned the wall of clues end to end. Their efforts tonight filled in a few of the gaps, but there was still too much wallpaper left to cover. 

Rubbing the back of her neck, Beau considered the mess of papers on her desk (which she’d dragged into her bedroom for convenience) and those which Caleb was currently organizing into piles around him on the floor. Her sigh sounded as frustrated as Caleb felt. They needed more time to unravel this mystery, but Vess’s murder set the clock ticking. In two more days they would reach the first coordinate marked on the map. By then the Assembly could discover her disappearance and pursue them or Lucien, now armed with her stolen book, may complete whatever ritual it contained. As things stood now they didn’t know enough to prepare for either scenario.

Beau flopped gracelessly onto her bed, laying her open notebook on top of her face. After a moment she groaned. “You ever feel like the longer you stare at something the less it makes sense?”

“It is a common side occurrence in academia. Usually indicative that you need a breather.” Caleb arched against the footboard, easing out the aches in his spine. Truth be told he was starting to go a bit cross-eyed, but he would continue at least as long as she would. “Shall we quit for tonight?”

She grunted at ‘quit’ and Caleb smirked a little, knowing how it chafed her pride. “Just gimme a minute and then we’ll go at it a little longer. And don’t look so smug.”

“How do you know I look smug? You can’t even see me.”

“I can hear it.” 

Caleb chuckled just as a knock echoed softly at the suite’s main door. He barely had time to plug his ears as Beau screeched.

“IT’S OPEN!” 

Yasha stepped around the corner, her footfalls almost impossibly quiet for such a big woman, but without her weapons and accessories she moved as silently as shadow. She hesitated in the doorway, a small bouquet of wildflowers gripped in one hand. She lifted the other in an awkward wave. Caleb nodded in greeting, then cocked his head toward Beau, still sprawled across the mattress. 

“Um, hellooo. Sorry, am I interrupting? I-I can come back later or, you know, another night.”

Beau shot to her feet, notebook launching off her face and smacking Caleb’s head. He rubbed the spot gingerly.

“No! I mean yes! Or—gah! You’re not interrupting anything, you’re totally good. Yeah.”

“A-are you sure? Because you both look kind of involved. I mean, busy! Studying.” Yasha shifted from foot to foot, glancing at Beau then everywhere and anywhere else in turns. Beau’s tanned cheeks flushed pink as she barked a strained laugh. She looked at Caleb, Help me! written across her face.

That seemed to be his cue.

“Actually, Yasha, you are right on time,” Caleb said, dispelling the silence. “We were just finishing up anyway. After all, it is well past my bedtime.” Truthfully it was barely 10:30pm, far earlier than he would normally put a pin in his studies. Caleb collected his quill and inkwell and made for the door, confident that neither woman would catch the lie at the moment.

Yasha stepped aside. “O-oh! Well in that case, goodnight, Caleb.”

“You, too, Yasha.” He met her nervous expression with an encouraging smile as he passed.

Beau called after him over the sound of shuffling paper. “Real cool, Caleb! Leaving me to clean up all this shit!”

“I-I can help with that,” he heard Yasha offer before the door clicked shut behind him. 

\-----------<>\-----------

Caleb dedicated the next hour for his own spell research before attempting to rest, but sleep proved elusive; his mind was restless, therefore so was his body. Thirty minutes of tossing and turning later, his stomach growled and he threw off the covers in a huff. 

“A quick walk and a snack, then off to bed with you. You’ve stayed up late enough as it is,” Caleb muttered, descending the three floors to the dining room with purposeful steps. He did not expect anyone to be there, let alone the beautiful blue tiefling sitting halfway down the table. Jester didn’t appear to have noticed him; her half-lidded violet eyes stared into a large mug of cocoa, its marshmallows long since melted.

Caleb yelped as the door closed on his heel. Jester jumped in her seat then relaxed the moment she saw him. “Oh! Hi.” 

“You are up quite late. Would you mind if I joined you?”

Her lips stretched in a small, wicked grin. “A late night rendezvous, Caleb? If I were my mom I would charge you for that, you know.”

“Th-that’s—very funny, Lavorre,” he stammered, embarrassment surging up to the very tips of his ears. “You know what I meant.” 

Jester giggled softly, “I’m just teasing, Caleb. You are very welcome to join me.”

Caleb took the seat opposite from her and ordered a cup of cocoa for himself as well as a small plate of plain crackers. He dunked one past the marshmallow layer, letting it soak for a moment before nibbling at the softened end. Meanwhile Jester had returned to quietly contemplating her drink, this time doodling in the froth with a toothpick.

He cleared his throat. “So, um, how are you? You’re looking a bit bluer than usual.”

“Just thinking. After all this time scrying on Lucien I hoped that, like, maybe Molly was still in there somewhere. You know? Like, at some point he would be like ‘Haa, you got me, Jester! I’m so glad you found me! It’s been so long, I missed you all so much.’” 

She waved her arms in a Molly-esque fashion, which Caleb would’ve complimented were it not for the gloom shading her eyes.

“But now I’m pretty sure that he’s really gone. Vess was a terrible person and probably lied to us about a lot of things, but if we--,” she paused, her knuckles a little paler as she gripped the mug tighter. Her words tumbled out faster as her logic began to snowball. “If I hadn’t scryed so many times, she might still be alive and maybe we’d have more answers. What if the Assembly finds out about it before we can bring her back--if we bring her back--and they come after us? And if they do come after us and Trent or whoever declares us enemies of the Empire it’ll be even harder for you to fix the Assembly and make everything better! This is all my fault!”

Caleb was on his feet before he could think, reaching across the table and laying his hands over hers. 

“Do not put this onto yourself, Jester. Please. Lucien would have found us and Vess eventually, even if you had not peeked in on him from time to time. She had many enemies. Mostly Veth.” 

She gave a weak smile and he squeezed her fingers gently. 

“As for me, do not worry. We will deal with things as they come. We’ve been through crazy shit and come out on top, ja? I have faith in you, and our little family.” 

“I do, too, Caleb. It’s just… this all really sucks, you know?” Jester tried to sound sure, but the corners of her lips wobbled ever so slightly. 

Caleb’s heart clenched. She was right; the situation did suck and it was perfectly normal to be upset by recent events. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t give anything, do anything, to ease her pain...

He had an idea. 

Caleb straightened. “Come on, Blueberry. I want to show you something.”

“Is it your roooom?” She asked, the tiniest spark of curiosity gleaming through the sadness in her eyes. 

“Nein. It is something much better.” 

“Are we leaving the tower?”

“Oh, definitely not, that would be much too dangerous. I know that you could hold your own against a pack of wolves but I, I would be a chew toy.” He flexed his gangly wrists. 

She snorted, “Okay, but you may want to change before we do whatever it is you’re planning.” 

“What do you mean?”

Jester pointed and Caleb followed the line from her finger to a cocoa stain blooming across his belly; in his haste to comfort her he had toppled his mug of chocolate and laid directly in it. Two kitchen cats, Rufus and Abigail, were already sopping up the spill with a dishrag.

“Hmm. Give me five minutes.”

\-----------<>\-----------

Four and a half minutes later Jester followed Caleb down the levitation column, twirling like a feather on a breeze. She would never get tired of this feeling. Artie’s power let her do some pretty awesome stuff, but floating weightlessly through a magical tower with just a thought? That was something really special. 

She looked at Caleb—clean, sometimes confident, but always charming and such a far cry from the shadow of a man he had been when they first met—who hovered a few feet beneath her. 

Caleb was something special.

He slowed upon reaching the Great Hall. As he touched down, he turned and offered his hand, looking just for a moment like the princes from the fairytales she’d read as a child. She blinked and the image was gone, though her tummy still fluttered as their fingers touched. 

He led her to one of the Great Hall’s sliding doors and grasped its handle with his other hand. 

“Are you ready to see something amazing?” 

Like you? She nearly blurted. Even if she had, he would never believe her. The thought made her sad. 

“Sure,” she said instead.

He pulled the door aside and she gasped.

Inside the room was a little theater with a beautiful wooden stage no more than 12 feet wide and heavy velvet curtains like the ones at the Chateau. Small globes of amber and yellow light drifted here and there, softly illuminating the space. Instead of chairs there were piles and piles of colorful plush pillows and oversized bean bags. 

“Come,” he said, escorting her gently toward the seats closest to the stage. 

With a muted poof, Jester plopped onto a bean bag and giggled as she sank into its bulk. Caleb seated himself into another at her side.

“This is so cute, Cayleb! But, why is the stage so small?”

Before he could respond, a spotted brown and white cat peeked out from the stage wings, meowing once at Caleb.

“Yes, Ada, we’re ready,” he said. 

“Mrow,” Ada replied then disappeared. Music, light and lilting, began to play from somewhere unseen as the globes dimmed. A moment later the curtains parted, revealing a beautifully painted set and a small easel with a sign written in flourishing script: Der Katzenprinz.

“Holy shit, Caleb!” Jester cried, her eyes wide with wonder, then panic. “But wait! I don’t speak cat. How will I know what’s going on?”

“No problem. I will narrate as they go.”

And so he did, haltingly at first as the cat actors performed the opening scenes, but soon they all found a rhythm. Caleb’s accented speech grew in confidence and expression. His eyes were fixed on the stage, completely focused on telling the story. 

Jester watched, squealing with delight at the cat-sized costumes each of them wore, but more often than not she found herself looking at Caleb. The hard lines of pain etched between his brows and at the corners of his lips faded like years as he lost himself in the tale he’d loved as a child. He looked even more handsome this way.

Jester’s tail curled in her lap as a blush bloomed across her cheeks.

On the stage, the cat prince himself sat atop a gilded throne and meowed a command to the others. All at once they stood on their hind feet and began to dance. It should have looked awkward but somehow they moved with grace and gusto to the music’s lively beat. Performance or not, it seemed like so much fun!

Jester leapt to her feet. “Can we join them, Caleb?”

“What? O-oh,” he said, then looked at the heaps of pillows covering the floor and the walls close around them. “Um, I suppose we could push these against the wall, though that still wouldn’t leave us much room.”

“I have a better idea!” 

She fished in her dress pocket and grinned as she pulled out a cocoon. Caleb looked at her in surprise before shaking his head with a resigned but entertained expression. 

“As you wish,” he said, pulling out his own component. 

From backstage, Ada’s head appeared again. She tilted her head at the two audience members. 

“Everything’s fine. Just keep the song going, ja?” 

The stagecat vanished into the wings meowing twice at something behind the backdrop. A second later the melody which had begun winding down looped to the beginning and the cats danced their routine again, this time joined by an orange tabby and a sleek blue cat. 

They fumbled through the steps, Jester doing noticeably better than Caleb, who looked quite sheepish after landing on her tail at least twice. Her feline throat was not built for laughter, but her playful swagger conveyed it. Caleb butted his forehead against hers in apology and she booped his nose as the music played on. 

Both spellcasters were panting when they finally dropped polymorph. The song looped for nearly 20 minutes and they had danced every second of it. The cats onstage continued the play, barely affected by the extended routine. 

Caleb flopped back into his beanbag, head lolling slightly in Jester’s direction. “Satisfied, Miss Lavorre?”

“Totally—this makes up for the beer hall in Rexxentrum.”

He paused, frowning at her for a moment, then looked away. “I… did not know you had wanted to dance.” 

Silence hung between them as Jester chewed on a response. He was lying. She could tell, especially since both of them had danced with Beau and Fjord. What she didn’t understand was why. It was such a silly thing to lie about.

Caleb leaned forward and interlaced his fingers. She thought perhaps he’d explain, but—

“It looks like they’ve continued without us. Would you like to hear the rest of the story?” 

“Sure,” she said, masking her disappointment. Maybe some other time then. 

The actors finished their performance and Jester clapped and whistled loudly with praise, drowning out Caleb’s soft applause. The globules of light flickered to life again as the curtains closed and they exited to the tower’s center.

“I suppose it’s time for bed,” Caleb said as they began slowly ascending. “I hope you enjoyed the show.”

“It was really wonderful, Cayleb. But why did you do it?”

He seemed taken aback by the question, perhaps because of how bluntly she’d asked. 

“Last time we were in the tower I promised to read Der Katzenprinz to you. I would have offered tonight but I am not a very good storyteller on my own and...you looked like you needed something a bit more fun.” He fidgeted a little.

Jester floated to eye-level and held his restless hands. “One of those things is true: I really did need a little fun. But I would’ve had just as much if you had only read it to me. You’re an amazing storyteller, Cayleb. Like, seriously, when this is all over you could go to libraries and read to little kids and stuff.”

The tips of his ears turned scarlet and she could see the denial on his face and in the perpetual droop of his shoulders. For all the things he did and said to make everyone else happy, he still had trouble accepting praise. That was okay, though. Jester would keep complimenting him until he could. 

He leaned in closer and whispered, “That’s very kind of you, but don’t let the cats hear you. They worked very hard on that performance, you see.”

“Oh of course, they did a VERY GOOD JOB!”

Caleb shushed her gently; they were coming up to the open ceiling entrance to the fifth level where Caduceus, Yasha, and Dagon were sleeping. 

Jester looked up at it wistfully, knowing that soon this magical night would end. Tomorrow they would be trudging through the miserable snow, fighting monsters and bad guys, maybe getting attacked by the Assembly or Lucien. She wasn’t quite ready to let it go. As the sixth floor entrance loomed above them, she bent forward and quickly kissed his cheek. Blue eyes flew open and stared at her in shock.

“Thank you. For everything,” she said, stepping out of the levitation column towards her door. ‘Everything’ wasn’t enough, but it would have to do for now. “Just so you know, you still owe me a book date.” 

Caleb hovered, still as a statue, for several heartbeats. Finally he smiled; a genuine, incredulous, beautiful sight. “I-If that is what you wish, I would be… happy to oblige.”

Jester opened the door and gave a little wave. “Good night, Cayleb.”

“Gute nacht, Jester.”

She darted inside and rushed to her sketchbook, burning with excitement, bashfulness, and a little pride. Sleep would definitely not come easy tonight. Biting her bottom lip, she opened to a fresh page and began to capture Caleb’s smile. 

\-----------<>\-----------

Caduceus hadn’t slept much so far. He had been meditating in his lounge just after 10pm when his long ears pricked up at the sound of a door opening. Then closing. Then opening. Then closing again. Intrigued, he rose, his long limbs gracefully carrying him to his own door in only a few strides. Through the peephole he saw Yasha exit her room with a bouquet of daffodils in hand, walk towards the levitation column, then hesitate, glance at the flowers, and rush back into her room. A few minutes later she emerged again, though the daffodils had switched to wildflowers. The woman paced several times back and forth until finally she shook her head and ascended through the ceiling aperture. 

“Huh,” he said to himself. 

Caduceus returned to his meditation and quiet contemplation over tea until midnight when his ears pricked again. This time it was merely someone—Caleb, judging by the accent—mumbling from above.

“...then off to bed with you. You’ve stayed up late enough as it is,” Caleb said as his voice disappeared below level. 

Had his door been open, Caduceus would’ve assumed the wizard was talking to him. He had a point, though, it was getting quite late. 

Caduceus stretched from head to tail and settled into bed. 

Only an hour later he woke to use the restroom, deciding that perhaps drinking a cumulative gallon of tea after 9pm was not a habit worth repeating. Just as he finished up, his ears caught Jester’s voice in the hall.

“...VERY GOOD JOB!”

“Shh!”

“That’s curious,” he said, striding once more to the peephole in the door. Jester and Caleb floated upwards through the floor, their hands joined. Just before passing through the ceiling, she leaned towards the wizard and pecked a kiss to his cheek. Even from his vantage point, Caduceus watched the two of them glow as they disappeared above.

“How about that,” he said to himself, then settled in for the last time. 

————————

Breakfast was served and the Mighty Nein plus Dagon had assembled themselves around the feast of pancakes, omelettes, fruit, pastries, and veritable mountain of bacon. But Caduceus wasn’t looking at the spread. 

His knowing eyes fell on Yasha, noting a bit of pink in her pale cheeks. She teased a wildflower braided into her hair as she stole glances at Beau, who seemed to be playing things cool save for the occasional goofy grin that she hid by looking down at her plate. 

Further down the table sat Jester, her eyes a little tired, but her whole aura beaming with positive energy as she chatted animatedly through a mouthful of pancake with Veth. Finally he looked to Caleb, whose transformation was equally as great as it was almost imperceptible. Though he sat at his usual place across from Jester and ate as quietly as he ever did, he sat a little taller and glanced at the tiefling girl for just a few seconds longer. He still averted his eyes when she caught him staring, completely missing the tinge of purple on her cheeks, but that was fine. Baby steps. 

“This is nice,” Caduceus said, much to everyone’s confusion, before sipping his tea.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.


End file.
